


We Come In Three’s

by hyuckshot



Series: A Room for Four [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Single Parent Donghyuck, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-19 14:27:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22279033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyuckshot/pseuds/hyuckshot
Summary: Donghyuck wants Mark to stay, the little spawns want Mark to stay, Mark himself wants to stay. Maybe there was one more room for their little family and Mark just happens to be the perfect person.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: A Room for Four [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604320
Comments: 17
Kudos: 424





	We Come In Three’s

**Author's Note:**

> Crazy how this fic took me literally a week or so because I just couldn’t get my shit together but here is my excuse to write little carbon copies of Donghyuckie. thank you<333

Donghyuck tries. He really does. He tries his best to drown out the sound of furious foot steps echoing around the house, pounding, and making his head hurt. Shoving a pillow over his entire head doesn’t seem to work and he supposes he’s not in some fever dream or nightmare where he’ll wake up and the noise would just stop. And alas, it doesn’t.

“Appa!” a glass shattering scream ruins his hearing.

“Five more minutes,” he groans out with a sore throat, “please.” 

He rolls around a couple more times in bed before stretching out like a cat and making weird stretching noises which brings his children into the room with concern, yet a knowing look plastered on their faces. It’s not the first time Donghyuck was this tired to the point that his stretching noises would pass as a morning call to everyone in their apartment complex. Giving his kids one look that says ‘please wait’, he groans in the most frustrated tone he can muster. 

“Appa?” Dowon, his three year old daughter questions, her doe eyes looking straight at him with concern and he tries his best to not reach out and bite her cheeks, “Your classes...” 

Like a whirlwind that sweeps Donghyuck up on his feet, he throws his self out of bed  dramatically speaking  as fast as lightning. “Fuck, fuck, fuck” he mutters as he rummages through his closet to pull out whatever shirt and jeans he has left. Dowon stands in front of his bed watching him with wide eyes as he makes a mess of his own room.  Fuck being a role model, she’ll understand.

“Appa? I need...potty” another voice mumbles in a soft tone to which Donghyuck stops his actions to. He gives the other kid standing by his doorway a look before blowing his bangs off of his face. Dongwoo stands at his doorway, eyes glossy, and chubby cheeks flushed while his hands are curled into fists. 

“It’s okay, baby, just do your poo poo on your diaper. Appa will clean you up later,” he says in a rush. It’s probably the worst decision because now his child would have to wait for him while he gets his own shit together – no not that shit – his things.

He grabs his towel and almost trips on his own feet as he makes his way to the bathroom. A quick shower wouldn’t hurt anyone, he can still get to his college on time.  He hopes.  Donghyuck reaches for his toothbrush first because fuck shower if your breath stinks anyway. In the middle of brushing his teeth, he hears footsteps approach the bathroom and he dreads his life decisions once again. 

“Appa!” Dowon calls out again, “us?” 

Donghyuck lets out a breath, completely forgetting that he has to leave the kids in the daycare as well.  Fucking amazing.  He catches two small toothbrushes, leaving his own in his mouth and,  gross,  squeezes toothpaste before opening the door. He gives one to Dowon before stomping over to Dongwoo. This house is occupied by babies and babies only, including himself he thinks. Dowon looks at him with an unbelievable look. 

“I’m sorry, Dowon but no showers today, baby. We can use the bath tub tonight when I get back I promise,” he struggles to say with the toothbrush shoved in his mouth and all the bubbles clogging up his throat. Dowon doesn’t seem to mind so she continues to brush her teeth, thankfully.

Meanwhile, Donghyuck starts to smell the living dread when it comes to having babies. Dowon seems to take notice of it too and gives a look towards her twin brother still standing by the door with his face scrunched. He quickly spits out the rest of the bubbles and gargles before kicking the step stool in front of the faucet for Dowon. “Do your thing, I have to clean your brother.” 

She only nods before climbing up the stool and continuing to brush her teeth and later on wash her face. Donghyuck gives her one last glance to make sure that she hasn’t fallen before running towards Dongwoo. Who runs around the living room the moment he sees his father running up to him, “What? No, no, baby, not tag.” he sighs exasperatedly, “Please don’t run with the toothbrush in your mouth, no.”

Dongwoo only smiles happily with his flushed cheeks and toothy grin before darting out to the kitchen and back. Of course, Donghyuck follows his son running around in circles. He might have little feet but those little feet do get him by. And Donghyuck might have endless legs but he’s tired and running makes him dizzy so he refrains from moving too fast. In the end, leaving him to sit on the floor with his legs sprawled on the carpet, trying to catch his breath. 

“Please, Dongwoo, let’s just change diapers. Please,” he pleads, feeling his life span leak through his finger tips. Dongwoo seems to take pity on his father because the next thing he knows, the kid has his toothbrush in his hands, running towards the step stool to spit the paste out, gargle and wash his face. Donghyuck can’t help the fond smile when he sees Dowon telling her brother to get inside the shower so Donghyuck can clean him up. 

Donghyuck gets up from his position on the carpeted floor to head towards the bathroom. One glance on the wall clock tells him that he’s going to be late for his first class, so he snatches his phone to send a quick text to Renjun, telling him he won’t be attending his first class. He gets his job done, cleaning Dongwoo up before ushering the kids out of the bathroom so he could get his quick shower. The kids would be fine but he won’t, he’s going to stink and feel icky if he doesn’t shower today. Especially, given the fact that he’s been tired and sleepy, just not showering would make him feel even more tired. Thankfully, the moment he steps out of the bathroom he sees his kids all dressed up. Dowon was in front of the mirror, her tiny hands gripping the hair brush and struggling to brush her long hair, lacking strategy. On the other hand, Dongwoo was by the door lacing up his shoes with his tongue sticking out. Donghyuck thinks, at least he’s trying. He makes his way to his bed and gets dressed into a plain shirt and jeans before pulling his hoodie over his head.

“Appa, dry?” Dowon asks, her eyes widening while she runs towards one of the drawers to pick up their hair dryer. Donghyuck would rather not use it because there’s not much time on his hands left but since Dowon insisted, he thinks he should just oblige. 

“Thanks baby,” he says before kissing atop her head. She scurries off to the shoe racks to find her favorite pair of shoes to match her little dress whilst Dongwoo on the other hand runs towards Donghyuck asking to get his shoelaces tied. Setting the blower down and crouching low to tie his shoelaces, Donghyuck looks up to see that Dowon has returned already in her slip ons with a brush in her hand, patting Donghyuck’s head gently. Sometimes Donghyuck just wants to stay at home and coddle over his little kids and how adorable they are, how sweet and caring they are for their shitty excuse of a father but at the end of the day, Donghyuck is just one amongst the other college students in the city. The only difference is that he was just a bit too reckless back then and now he has two little hyuckies running around in his apartment. 

“Appa, appa, appa” Dongwoo calls out, already standing in front of the door with Dowon, “Pancakes?” he asks. His chubby cheeks and little teeth on display ready for Donghyuck to pepper with kisses all over his face. He scrunches up his face holding his hand out for Donghyuck to take and Dowon does the same. He’s a bit more than late to class now so might as well take the kids to breakfast at this point, he’s sure Renjun has some notes to spare. 

“Pancakes sound good to you, baby?” he looks over to Dowon who only smiles up brightly at him and nods her head as they head out of their apartment, hands swaying in synch as they walk their way to the diner. 

The kids say their good mornings to the grannies on the street and the ladies who sold fruits every morning on their way, each one cooing at them before giving one more good morning for Donghyuck. The people around their apartment and the ones they pass by every morning have seemingly grew fond of just how cute and entertaining his kids were and grew familiar of the trio ever since they moved in. Everyone just somehow, for some good god’s sake, assumed they were his younger siblings and didn’t bother questioning him. The truth was Donghyuck kicked himself out of their home when his parents found out he was going to have kids this early. He wasn’t kicked out nor were his parents in favor of him living alone, but the shame and the weight it put on his shoulders knowing he’s being dependent on his parents when he was supposed to be raising his kids just haunted him. And so he moved out.

Donghyuck takes a glance from the menu to the kids sitting in front of him, they were looking at him expectantly with their doe eyes, similar to his own. It’s adorable thinking there are twins right in front of him who literally look like carbon copies of little Donghyuck, so he brings out his phone, tells them to smile and snaps a photo.

“Appa, pacake?” Donghyuck tilts his head hearing Dongwoo, “Pan...cake? Appa? Now?” 

“Appa, pancake now, pancake” Dowon cheers alongside her brother, jumping a little on her seat from excitement. It takes another moment for Donghyuck to look at them and think they’re his before the waiter arrives at their table to take their orders.

“Taeyong hyung,” Donghyuck greets the part time worker, “didn’t know you took early shifts?” 

The older only shrugs, “Taeil reshuffled our schedules and roles again this morning. So what can I get you lovely babies?” Taeyong asks, referring to both the twins and Donghyuck himself. He puffs out his cheeks and pouts upon being called a baby, “Oh, don’t tell me otherwise, look at you, a baby with his babies.” 

“Fine. They’ll have pancakes and,” he gives them a stern look, “water only, no more sweet stuff. You need to drink water.” Which of course results to a whining party consisting of two three year olds. Taeyong laughs at their antics and tells Donghyuck that he can order up warm milk for the kids instead, to which convinces Donghyuck that it is quite healthy. 

“I’ll just have the classic bacon and eggs,” then he thinks, opens his mouth and closes it again. Donghyuck contemplates whether to get coffee or hot chocolate because he’s sure Taeyong’s going to prove to him how much of a baby he is if he orders hot chocolate. But then again what’s there to lose?

“And hot chocolate?” Taeyong asks, “You know you always order that, Hyuck, you don’t need to be ashamed. Our hot chocolate is always the best.”

Donghyuck sighs in defeat, sending the older a sheepish smile before he turns back around to get their orders done. Meanwhile, he looks back at the twins. Dowon’s hair has gotten quite longer these days, now reaching her chest, her bangs too have just grown past her eyebrows. He’s sure she’s going to complain about it sticking to her eyes at some point. Dongwoo on the other hand has his hair a mess atop his head. Similar to Donghyuck’s hair when he was younger, his hair was a curly mess, dark strands sticking all over the place, here and there. It reminded him so much of when he was a child. Dongwoo seriously looked exactly like him, it was ridiculous. He gives them a warm smile to which they gladly returned before looking out the glass wall to look at his reflection. His light brown hair was disheveled from the cold air they went through outside and he number of times he’s run his hands through them. Other than that, people were right about how he looks like he was just taking his younger siblings out for breakfast. The only people who knew they were his kids were the few people from the diner, the day care and his best friends. 

Dowon and Dongwoo’s noses are slightly red and their cheeks were flushed from the cold. Their jackets hugging their little form adorably as they played amongst themselves, both holding little toy buses. Although, Donghyuck collects their toys and puts it on the side of the table once their food arrives. While he eats his own food, he can’t help giving the kids quick glances. He doesn’t miss the way Dowon sips a bit of her syrup, making a weird face, before pouring it all over her pancake. He also doesn’t miss the way Dongwoo tips Dowon’s syrup into his own pancake when he felt like his own wasn’t enough. The girl complains and hits her brother’s shoulder lightly, only to which Dongwoo laughs off and kisses her cheek after. She sits in defeat and they both continue to eat on their own. It was quite messy and Donghyuck has to reach over to wipe their faces and little hands every now and then to avoid further damage, he also needs to slice their pancakes because if he doesn’t, they might just use their hands and make much more of a mess.

“Appa, want to taste?” Dongwoo asks, holding up his fork with the soggy pancake looking at him helplessly, “Say aaaah” 

Donghyuck leans over catching the too sweet and too soaked in syrup pancake slice and gives his son a thumbs up while he tries his best not to grimace from the over sweetness. He reminds himself to cut down their sugar intake soon. Dongwoo giggles, grinning at him while shoving pancakes in his own mouth. 

Once they were done and paid, with Donghyuck making sure to leave a tip for Taeyong, he proceeds to walk the kids to the daycare before he catches a bus to university. He has around 40 minutes at most before he has to go to his second class and that should be enough. 

“Bye bye, appa, see you later” they kiss him goodbye and maybe hug him a little bit tighter and longer than most days today. They know, he thinks, they know he’s been having a hard time and the emotional support and boost he gets from his kids is enough to make him feel emotional. He shakes his head, thinking when he had gotten so emotional over dropping off the kids at day care. His heart felt warm and he’s never felt so full of love before. He loves them dearly and he’ll surely do anything for them. 

“Donghyuck, will you pick them up at 5 or a bit later?” Ten, one of the owners of the daycare, asks. He’s scribbling something on his clipboard, probably for attendance. Donghyuck always leaves the kids here despite it being called daycare, they stay up open until late just so he could leave and return to his kids after university, which he is forever thankful for. Upon figuring out that Donghyuck was a college student, a single-dad, living alone in his apartment complex with twins, Ten has offered a helping hand to take care of the kids whenever Donghyuck isn’t around. Including whenever he has his part time job at the convenience store. He picks them up at the end of the day in Ten’s place. It’s not like Donghyuck needs to work because his parents still send him allowance, knowing he’s multitasking from being a dad to being a student, then working at the same time but he also needs extras which is why he does so anyway. Plus, at this age, he’s supposed to already have a job. So he endures.

“Around five is good, hyung, really thank you for watching over them,” Ten gives him a nod before he waves one more goodbye to his kids and pushes his way through the streets to catch a bus. 

Donghyuck zones out for most of the bus ride with his earphones blaring whatever music he has on shuffle. He throws his hood over his head, slings his back over one shoulder and heads for his second class for the day. There he meets with Jaemin, Jeno and Renjun who all gave him a knowing look. 

“Little spawns gave you a hard time again?” 

He just shrugs, slides off the bag from his shoulder and slumps onto his chair rubbing his face with both his hands, “careful, you’re gonna deform your face.” Jeno jokes lightly to which Donghyuck only groans. 

“Why can’t you just move in with your folks again? They miss you and they’d love to see your kids.” Renjun sighs, rubbing comforting circles on Donghyuck’s back. Something about the way he says “your kids” made something warm bloom in Donghyuck’s chest and hits him differently. His face must’ve looked like he malfunctioned because then Jaemin is clamping a hand on his shoulder, “Donghyuck wants to be independent, it’s okay as long as he visits them every once in a while – you do visit them, right?” 

He can only nod. His parents loved seeing the twins and he loves coming home too, missing the food his mom makes along with his grandmother who undyingly smothers him and his kids with love and good food. 

“I have notes you might want to copy” Renjun says, handing his notebook to Donghyuck. He mumbles a thank you before keeping it in his bag. 

“I’m just tired, this semester has been hell and the kids are just – it’s hard, everything’s hard.” he says it calmly until he ends his sentence with another frustrated groan, stooping down on his desk. He wants to cry but he knows crying won’t do anything. 

“You should take a break from living alone, maybe spend this week or the next week with your parents then go back to the apartment after. You’re missing out on your college life, Hyuck, that’s what.” Jeno says, “Besides, they love the twins. They’d understand if you want to go sneaking out again like before.” 

“I know,” he sighs, “but I just can’t leave the twins alone, you know I prioritize them, right? I need to watch over them all the time. It just feels weird when I leave them to be taken care of by anyone who isn’t me. Mom is great but I just feel the need to be around them all the time.” 

He slumps further into his seat when he realizes just how much he’s been rambling on again. It really seems like the week has taken an absolute toll on him and he’s reached peak stress from everything happening all at once. He doesn’t know what hit him and made him feel like this because he’s sure he’s used to raising the kids alone at this point. But somehow he was wrong after all. 

“There’s a basketball game Friday, want to come? Leave the kids with Ten hyung or your mom, it’ll be fine. You need to chill for a bit, even parents need a break. Let alone single dads.”Jeno suggests. 

“Mark will be playing,” Jaemin adds, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“What makes you think you can lure me to the game just because Mark’s there,” he rolls his eyes,  pfft, he definitely didn’t have a crush on Mark Lee. No. That’s dumb.

“This crush you have on Mark has been going on for years, Hyuck,” Renjun comments, “It’s time to move your pretty ass.” 

“It’s because he’s not interested,” he says wallowing in self-pity, “besides, I have kids. Who would want to date someone with kids? In college, mind you.” 

He thinks he’s won the argument when Jeno starts complaining, “Hey! It’s happened before. Stop pulling yourself down, Hyuck, Mark is a nice guy. Best team captain ever.” 

“Iknow he’s nice. Of course I know he’s nice,” suddenly the floor boards look extremely interesting and Donghyuck can’t look up, “it’s just the thought of getting rejected by the Mark Lee seems so... devastating. I can’t afford to be heartbroken when I have kids to take care of.” 

“Your precious heart won’t be broken, Hyuck, that’s for sure.” Jeno smiles his famous eye smile. Renjun on the other hand squints at him, “You know something we don’t, don’t you?” 

“What are you even saying,” Jeno mumbles awkwardly before sitting up straight when the professor comes in, “just let loose, Hyuck, watch the game and support your man.” 

After Donghyuck finishes the rest of his classes, he’s met with the usual gang on their spot in the cafeteria. Jisung, Chenle, Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin, all huddled around the table. He swats Jisung’s hand once he approaches the table and sees the boy picking on his salad. “Don’t pick on your food, it’s not good.”

“You’re such a mom sometimes, hyung.” Jisung complains, yet proceeds to eat his salad properly anyway.

“Technically, he is a mom” Chenle adds, grinning, feeling proud of himself to which Donghyuck only shakes his head at. He was about to start munching on his lunch when Chenle spoke up again, doing a great job at making him nearly fall out his chair, “Oh! It’s Mark hyung, Jisung it’s Mark hyung!”

“And?”

“Mark hyung!” Chenle calls out. Now, never in Donghyuck’s life did he ever imagine that Chenle would ever call Mark to come over to their table in the cafeteria. Like, who does that? He’s suddenly questioning his life decisions, maybe he should eat outside campus next lunch break, drag Jaemin with him or maybe Jeno. He’s sure he’ll end up with Renjun anyway what’s the point of thinking. He stares at his plate and oh, the irony because Jisung raises his eyebrows at him as he starts to pick on his food with his fork. 

He hears Chenle stifle a giggle once Mark reaches their table, “Mark hyung, Donghyuck hyung wants to say hi.” 

Suddenly he feels his cheeks heat up and he’s sure his ears are beet red at this point. He hears Renjun snort so he subtly pinches Renjun’s side, making the elder screech. He swats Donghyuck’s hand and glares at him, proceeding to watch the scene unfold.

“Donghyuck? Hi.” Mark says in his voice that Donghyuck never imagined himself to hear this close in greeting. Mark and he never had classes together and so interactions were quite low on percentage. But Mark knew he existed and who he was so he’ll take that anyway.

Donghyuck lifts his head up slowly after taking a deep breath, completely looking like a deer caught in headlights. He just knows from the way Mark genuinely smiles at him that he’s completely flushed. Mark had this amused glint in his eyes and he’s sure it’s because of his extremely tomato red face, “hi...” he breathes out, “Mark”

“What’s up?” he asks with an accent after eyeing Donghyuck shortly. And Donghyuck? Oh god, Donghyuck feels like his legs are going to give out any time soon. His friends might have to carry him home and he has to tell his kids he’s sorry for being such a terrible dad and that he loves them dearly but Mark Lee is the death of him.

Taking pity over Donghyuck’s frozen state, Jeno speaks up, “It’s because it’s Hyuck’s first time watching our game on Friday, hyung. They wanted to give the team captain a good luck.” 

“Good luck, huh? We’ll see then, maybe Hyuck could be a good charm.” 

Renjun scoffs this time, “Oh please, you might get too distracted by Hyuck and trip on your own feet. We don’t want to lose that way, Mark.” 

Mark shakes his head at this, chuckling lowly, his lower lip caught between his teeth. Oh, Donghyuck just wants the ground to open up beneath him and swallow him alive. 

“I’ll see you on Friday then” 

“Yeah” Donghyuck mumbles, his gaze anywhere but Mark.

Not long after the day ends, nearing 5pm, he proceeds to his journey back to the daycare, well until someone calls out his name. He turns around in his heels, expecting the person by just their voice yet starstruck to find out it really was them. Mark Lee jogging up to him, past the university gates. 

“Hey” he breathes out, “I was wondering if you needed a ride on Friday?” he must’ve taken Donghyuck’s dumb look as a grimace because he starts rambling about how he’s just giving options, “I mean you don’t have to say yes of course, you can say no. Of course you can do that. I-uh- I’m really sorry if that scared you off. I just thought maybe, maybe you needed uh a ride since the venue is uh–“ 

“It’s fine, Mark, I usually just go with my friends but new company would be nice.” Donghyuck says all too calmly, completely opposite of his heartbeat pounding in his chest, “For real? That’s great, just send me the address then. I’ll pick you up at 6, you’ll get a free warm up pass.” 

“I really don’t think watching a ton of sweaty boys warm up is exactly ideal.” he tries to joke. scrunching up his nose. 

“Who said you’ll be watching  them ?” he says smugly, repositioning his snapback and running his fingers through his hair, “I’ll see you around, Hyuck.” 

WAIT.

SHUT UP.

FUCK MARK LEE.

Donghyuck can still hear his heart beat out of his chest and his knees are wobbly as he makes his way towards the daycare. The lights were still bright inside, meaning Ten and the kids haven’t left yet so he hurries inside and peeks through the receptionists table to look at his twins. 

“Appa!” Dowon cheers, hands raised in the air and later on she’s followed by Dongwoo who had his toy bus inside his mouth then talking to it as though it were his phone. He ends his pretend phone call with a “Appa is here, it was nice to meet you.” 

He gives Ten a wave before removing his shoes and joining the kids in the carpeted floor. They rush up to him and wrap their tiny arms around his torso and neck, hugging him tighter than the usual. Dowon then starts leaving kisses all over her father’s face before setting herself on his lap, asking to be cradled, “Okay, okay we’ll head out now and all of us can have a good sleep.”

“Sleep beside appa?” Dongwoo asks, his eyes pleading, round and doe like. My carbon copy, he thinks. 

“Or course, baby.” He gives them each a kiss on their foreheads before collecting their things and slinging everything on his arms and shoulder. He holds each their hands and makes way to Ten, “Hyung, I might leave them much later tomorrow, I have a shift. Will that be fine with you?”

“When did I ever say no to the kids, Hyuck?” 

“I just thought maybe you had plans” he shrugs, to which Ten only hakes his head to, “You know if I had plans it would be with Johnny anyways, so we always have space for the twins.”

“Thanks, we’ll head out now” 

They give Ten their little sleepy waves before Donghyuck takes out their beanies and masks to warm them up through the cold night air. He feels both Dowon and Dongwoo’s little fingers tighten around his hands so he gives them both a reassuring squeeze. 

“Have you eaten the dinner I packed for you?,” he asks, eyeing them quickly before turning his attention back to the streets. They only nod, eyelids slightly drooping, and at times like this Donghyuck really hates the facf that he can’t bring strollers around. Even if he wants to let the kids nap on their way home, all of them had to walk together, he’s not so sure he can carry both kids in his arms and his bag with their bags and stroll home unscathed. “Can you guys wash up first before you sleep?” he gently asks.

No one answers again until he hears a small little whine of protest probably coming from Dongwoo, “Okay, tomorrow morning. Appa promises to wake up early and give you kids a shower.” 

At the end of the day, it always just leaves Donghyuck, Dongwoo and Dowon. They’re still a three piece. Cuddled together, staying close to each other and just the three of them, as Donghyuck would put it, against the world. Does he regret ever having them? No, he wouldn’t even dare regret it. Does he want them to meet their mother? Surely if they’d want to, he’ll allow them but at this point he doesn’t think it’s important anymore. They’ve had their closure years ago, after the twins were brought to life, it was basically just Donghyuck, Dowon and Dongwoo until present. He fixes his gaze at the wall where the surface meets the bed. Dongwoo and Dowon and lightly snoring as they lay beside each other. Donghyuck have sung them a lullaby to sleep, and not even halfway to the chorus, they’ve passed out. Mouth slightly parted and their breathing is even. They remind him so much of himself. The many times he’s slept in class and in road trips where his friends would laugh and snap photos of him instead of waking him up. They were mini Donghyucks and he loves the thought of having them by his side.

The next day came flashing right before his eyes before he knew it. One moment he was waking up, making breakfast then giving the kids a shower then the next thing he knows he’s almost leaving university grounds to head to his shift in the little cafe near campus which is always packed with people, both students and workers. It was a normal occurrence, nothing too out of the blue nor extraordinary. The only thing was, he had two little kids clinging onto his hand. Apparently, Johnny surprised Ten with a fancy date and despite always having room for the twins, he didn’t want to ruin a fancy date by having them take care of his own children. That just doesn’t sit right. And so they walk as a three piece to the little cafe. 

“Hyuck, you’re here,” Kun, the owner of the cafe, greets, “And you brought little Donghyucks. Hi there!”

“Hi uncle Kun,” they both greet, bowing as much as their little bodies would let them. 

“Go on, you can stay at the table near the window so your dad can see you while he works. I’ll give you a free cupcake and warm milk to keep you occupied.” 

Both Dongwoo and Dowon cheer and clap their hands, giggling as they make their way towards the table Kun pointed out. Donghyuck only rolls his eyes and chuckles lowly, following after the twins once he’s done thanking Kun for allowing them to come with. He wears his apron when he’s seated Dowon and Dongwoo on their chairs, smiling and coloring contently at the little coloring book they shared. The page was a mess, seeing how they just scribbled whatever and wherever they liked, completely disregarding the drawing, Mickey mouse desperately asking them to color his world properly but it’s no use. He gives them both a light pat on the head, telling them a good job at coloring to which they giggled and thanked their dad.

“Behave, ‘kay? I’ll be making drinks. Don’t mess around and think of disturbing customers, we don’t want them to get mad now, do we?” Donghyuck says in a pitch much higher than his normal voice, doing baby talk since he just can’t help it as the two pairs of doe eyes stare back at him, completely listening. God, aren’t they cute!

Kun returns with two cupcakes and two glasses warm milk and sets them on the table. A warm smile is plastered on his face the moment the kids thank him and start munching on their cupcakes, getting icing on their nose and cheek. “Your kids are adorable,” he whispers, not bothering to look at Donghyuck, too fond of the children.

“Thanks,” he mumbles, “they got it from me, of course” he adds after a moment, laughing out loud when Kun squints at him. He runs to his place near the cashier to take on the day as the good barista he is. He does not forget giving Kun a strong and disciplined salute before proceeding to make orders. 

A little more than an hour later, Donghyuck was sure he saw the kids just playing around other free tables but the next thing he knows they were nowhere around his area of vision. He scans the room one more time before breaking into a fit of panic, sweat and tears building up in his eyes included. He can’t just lose sight of the kids right after just turning around real quick. Surely someone would have noticed them if someone lured them outside. Losing your earphones makes you freak out. Losing your phone makes you more freaked out. Losing any valuable thing you own makes you freak the fuck out but losing your kids is a totally different story. He quickly settles the cups and spoons he was just wiping down and headed out into the tables, searching each occupied and not occupied ones like a mad man. He was going to lose his shit. And maybe his sanity, and everything else to follow. 

“Dongwoo? Dowon?,” he calls out. There were still a few more customers left inside the cafe, having conversations and eating, each one of them turning their heads to look at Donghyuck but he could care less, “Dowon? Dongwoo? Come on, this isn’t funny. You’re making appa cry.” 

He wipes his cheeks with the back of his hand a bit too aggressively before searching the backroom to see if they’ve somehow discovered the place and taken Winwin into liking, but the older only sends him a questioning look once he peeks his head in. Turning back around and still no signs of the twins, he checks outside. Surely, no signs of the twins there either. He’s starting to lose the only bits of control of himself he has left and he starts tugging on his hair in frustration. He wants to call for his mom so bad. To just scream for his mom and she would come and fix everything for him. Moms always had solutions for everything. It’s like a superpower they just inherit. Donghyuck thought he’d have those too when the twins were brought to life, but maybe he’s just not a good enough parent. Of course he wasn’t, the kids weren’t even in his line of vision right now. With another deep breath, Donghyuck gathers his strength, and calls out again with a hopeful heart. 

“Dowon? Dongwoo? Where are you?” 

“Appa!!” he hears a high pitched voice call back. He could recognize that anywhere and of course Dowon would call for him after so many times of searching the whole place. It’s like a wave of relief washed over Donghyuck and he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in the whole time. Along with the breath comes a fresh wave of tears he tries so badly to wipe away. “In washy room!”

Donghyuck doesn’t hesitate and immediately drags his feet towards the comfort rooms and he thinks to himself how come the thought of searching the bathrooms never crossed his mind while looking for them. He felt like a hypocrite, how he always makes comments on the characters in movies who make doubtful decisions and dumb moves, he was literally one of them now. It’s true, you wouldn’t know what to do if you were in that place. He suddenly realizes, it’s a whole different story to actually be in a situation in real life. He turns a sharp corner to the faucets where Dowon has now proclaimed as the washy room to see Dongwoo already looking up at him,p as if he was waiting for his dad to come in. Realizing Dowon, who has been screaming for him, wasn’t beside his brother, he looks up towards the faucet. Only to see a reflection on the mirror that did not quite settle well in his stomach. There, right in front of him, where Dowon couldn’t reach the faucet to wash her hands was none other than Mark Lee who was holding her up as she washes the soap off of her tiny hands. Mark seemed to be just as stuck as he was, seeing as he was just staring right at Donghyuck in the mirror with wide and confused eyes. 

Donghyuck did not know if his world was crumbling before his feet or if it gave him a good start. Shaking his thoughts off, he knew. He could care less right now about his love life because the tears that were flowing from his eyes are tears of how scared he was and now how relieved he is seeing his kids. 

“Mark?” he croaks out at the same time Mark mumbles a questioning, “Appa?” 

Dowon on the other hand calls out for her father trying to wriggle out of Mark’s hold, “Appa!” 

Below him, Dongwoo was already hugging his leg, showing all the affection he can afford to give his dad to comfort him. Mark sets Dowon down and she immediately runs to Donghyuck, pulling at his shirt to make him crouch down. Donghyuck obliges, sucking in a deep breath before collecting the twins into a warm and very tight hug. He hugs them as if his life depended on them. His life does depend on them, he thinks.

“Appa, why cry?” Dowon mumbles softly on Donghyuck’s neck. 

Donghyuck only shakes his head and pulls them even closer. He pulls out slightly just so he can see their faces and looked at each one of them, “Next time you have to tell appa where you’ve ran to, understand?” 

They both nod sadly, probably feeling anew as they’ve never seen their dad cry nor have Donghyuck shown any form of weakness around them before. He has always tried to be the superhero, he always tried to look like the tough and cool dad his kids can brag about, but in the end Donghyuck is just a college student struggling with his course, his part time job, his expenses and all while raising twins. 

It’s Dongwoo’s turn to pout this time, pressing his tiny hand on Donghyuck’s cheek and he holds it there. Keeps his son’s hand on his cheek as he stares at him, “Appa, no cry. Stop please.” 

His fatigue, his thoughts, Mark, everything seems to just take a toll on him and the way his kids look at him with so much concern and love just made him lose it and so he continues to cry with a fresh wave of new warm tears. Snot included at this point because he’s sobbing. He feels a pair of eyes stare down at him and he can’t believe he almost forgot Mark had no idea he had kids nor did he know what is happening. He lets go of the kids to stand straight and acknowledge Mark’s presence once again. 

“Are you okay?” he asks the same time as Donghyuck straightens out and mumbles a soft, yet determined, “I can explain.” 

Mark shakes his head, with what looks like a disappointed look on his face. Donghyuck feels his heart sink and he thinks maybe, just maybe, he wants to cry some more. He never even confessed to Mark, all throughout high school, too afraid of rejection yet here he is a sobbing mess with snot and tears and dirt on his face, his kids just looking up at him. 

“You don’t have to explain if you can’t yet,” Mark says after a few more moments of silence, “I can wait for you, Donghyuck.” 

Another moment of silence.

Donghyuck focuses his gaze on the floor, feeling icky and dirty and suddenly tired and sleepy from crying too much. His lips form a little pout from thinking too hard and he lets out a frustrated whine, “I don’t... I don’t know where to start” he admits.

Mark could only nod. With nothing else but silence again right after, he walks over to the tissue dispenser and rolls a few on his hand. He walks back closer to Donghyuck and places a hand on his lower back, “Maybe you can start by blowing off your nose first?” 

He scrunches his nose up and takes the tissue from Mark, wiping away his tears and blowing off his nose just as he’s told. Mark gave him a soft smile and ran his hand on his back, “You have all the time to tell me if you want to, you don’t have to and I won’t force you if you don’t want to.”

“I know, I want to... and I will,” Donghyuck sighs, “we should go back outside, you can wait for me there, let me just fix myself.” 

Mark takes his leave, the twins trailing right after him and Donghyuck feels his chest constrict again and this time his stomach does something weird. Something only Mark Lee can make him feel. Once he’s done trying to hide the remnants of a breakdown on his face, he heads out to the table where Mark was waiting for him. Kun comes out of the stock room to see him in his state and gives him a questioning look to which he only shrugs off. Thankfully, the older calls for the twins and ushers them in the backroom to entertain them with something while Donghyuck makes his way to Mark. 

“So...” Donghyuck trails off as he slides into the booth, “I honestly don’t know where to start so, if you’re that curious, you can ask questions and I’ll answer as much as I can.” 

Mark takes in a deep breath, “I’m not dreaming, am I?” 

Donghyuck slowly shakes his head.

“They’re your kids then. I mean, the eyes and lips really give it away but I just had to ask.” he looks at Donghyuck expectantly and Donghyuck only gives him a sad, thankful smile and nods. Peaceful. 

“How old are they?” 

“They’re three.” 

“Their names?”

“Dowon and Dongwoo.”

“I’m sorry but I just have to ask this,” Mark takes another deep breath and Donghyuck sees him grip on the couch he’s sitting on, “Where’s their mom?” 

“She left when she’s recovered from giving birth,” Donghyuck shrugged, sigh leaving his lips, “I don’t really mind at this point.”

“Does this mean... You’re, uh, I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable but were you... did you love her?” Mark asks. Donghyuck would have smacked his head if he didn’t hear the shaking of Mark’s voice and his pure concern. 

“No,” Donghyuck shrugged once again, “I never did actually. I was younger then, reckless, drunk off my ass and felt like nothing else mattered. I was in a bad place, at my lowest. I wanted someone to rely on, to make me feel loved. Their mom was there. It happened, she came back and told me they’re mine.” 

Mark remained silent, eyes focused on his hands placed on top of the table. He was contemplating about what to say, Donghyuck knows. He opened his mouth and closed and did the process all over again, like a fish out of water. Mark and Donghyuck did not interact in most days nor did they spend a lot of time together, but he knew of Mark since forever. The city was not too big, Mark has been around long enough, and he’s liked him since high school. It was enough to be acquaintances, yet there was so much to find out about Mark and so much about him that Mark has yet to know. 

“Okay.” Mark sighs.

“Listen, if you’re just going to pity me or look at me like you’re disgusted then I’d rather not have this conversation because I’ve been having such a hard time and if you’ll just add-“ 

“No,” Mark shakes his head and cuts him off, “I mean, no, nothing will change. I was just confused and it was hard to believe somehow, I don’t know but nothing will change. I still want to see you in the game tomorrow.” 

Donghyuck feels his heart stop and his cheeks suddenly feel warm, “What?”

“I actually asked Chenle where you were to give you something and while waiting, well, I saw these adorable twins and played a bit and then all of a sudden you’re there crying and everything’s too fast.” He rambles out, Donghyuck couldn’t help letting the smile slip from his face.

“Why were you looking for me?” He asks timidly, eyes shy and anywhere but Mark’s. The other seems to do so as well. 

“I wanted to give you something,” he says, leaning on the side to take something out of his bag. He gives Donghyuck a sheepish smile before setting what seemed like a neatly folded jersey on the table, “I just thought maybe you’d... I don’t know, this is embarrassing, hold up.” 

Mark scrunches up his face and Donghyuck sees how the red tint on his cheeks spreads all over his face to the tips of his ears. He quickly covers his face, seeing how Donghyuck’s attention was solely on him. He finds it so adorable he can’t help letting a small chuckle slip. It’s not like he wasn’t embarrassed nor flustered himself, because he was. Donghyuck have always had this crush on Mark he knew it was more than that at this point, and having Mark ask him to wear his jersey to the game made him feel so warm inside and brought the butterflies in his stomach to life. 

“Thanks, Mark,” he mumbles, reaching out for the jersey and hugging it close to his chest, “I’ll make sure to wear it to the game tomorrow.” 

“Wait, what? You will? For real?”

“Yes, for real.” he answers back, laughing at the wide eyes of Mark filled with amusement and enthusiasm, “Do you, I don’t know, do you want to get to know the kids for real?”

“I,” Mark stutters, opening and closing his mouth again. Donghyuck feels uneasy, what if Mark liked him but he wasn’t ready to care about the kids as well. They were in college for goodness sake, “Sure, that’d be great.” he gives an easy smile.

He looks over his shoulder to make a gesture to Kun and Kun gladly understands and accepts, calling out for both Dowon and Dongwoo, who came out running and almost tripping on their little feet towards Donghyuck and Mark’s table. Dowon now had her hair up in two buns on either side, her bangs down and Donghyuck can’t help pinching her cheeks. Dongwoo, seeing his father’s affection quickly ran up to Donghyuck and hugged his torso, squishing his face on Donghyuck. He lets out a laugh and pinches his button nose, “You’re cute too, of course, baby.” 

“Dongwoo, Dowon, this is Mark. He’s my, uh,” he stops, what is Mark to him anyway? And what is he to Mark? “He’s my friend. You can call him oppa.”

“Oppa?” Dongwoo asks, his eyes practically showing two question marks.

“Hyung works for you, sweetie.” he says, ruffling his son’s hair.

They politely bow at Mark after Mark gives them a small wave. He’s actually met them, played with them for a while before he helped them up the faucet to wash their hands. He knew the doe eyes and heart shaped lips were too familiar and made him think of a particular boy with golden skin and a sunshine smile.

“Do you... I don’t know if this is crossing your comfort zone but, do you want to bring them to the game tomorrow?” He asks, his eyes not leaving the twins.

“Appa, what game?” Dowon asked.

“Ball?” Dongwoo follows.

“Yes, sweetie, basketball like the toy you have at home,” Donghyuck explains calmly then looking at Mark, “I mean it’s fine, we’ve never watched a game before but people might question.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Mark whispers dumbly, “Sorry, I didn’t think it through.” 

“Appa,” Dongwoo whines and stomps his feet, something Donghyuck has not seen him do before. Is this Dongwoo’s first tantrum? Does this mean he’s upset? “Want to watch, appa!” 

“Baby,” Donghyuck sighs in frustration. Mark senses his frustration and scoots over, sitting beside Donghyuck. He rubs comfortingly at Donghyuck’s back, successfully calming down the younger and soothing out some of his worries, “If you’re not comfortable with it then maybe we can just take them out to the park some other day.”

“He wants to watch so bad now,” he rubs at his face, “would it he okay to tell people they’re my siblings if they ever question?” he groans, “No, that’s not right. They’re never ashamed of me and of course I shouldn’t be ashamed. I mean, I have the best kids, don’t I?” 

He reaches out to pinch the twins’ cheeks and they return a warm smile at him. He picks up Dongwoo and signals for Mark to pick up Dowon. She sits happily on his lap, playing with the toy bus in her hands, making it climb up Mark’s arm then jump ti his cheek, the face he makes makes Donghyuck and Dowon laugh together. 

“Okay, we’ll watch basketball, but promise appa you’ll be very nice. Please?” he almost pleads, making sure he’s showing the cutest pout and puppy eyes he can muster. The twins look at him then look at each other before looking back at him and nodding.

“That’s settled then?” Mark grins, a little bit too happy, Donghyuck thinks, “Do you guys need a ride home?” 

“Oh, no please Mark, we’re fine walking-“ 

“You have car?” Dowon muses, eyes shining with anticipation. Her voice is such a high pitch Donghyuck grimaces a little bit when she screeched, “Appa doesn’t drive.”

“But I do. Do you guys want me to drive you?” 

“You’re driving me insane, please, this is enough. You’ve already done so much. I don’t want to bother you.”

“Appa!! Car!! I wanna car ride!!!” Dowon continues to push. Waving her body around, Donghyuck squints at her to try and calm her down because Mark was having a hard time keeping her steady on his lap. “Appa please.” 

“Hyuck?” The older asks expectantly.

He only rolls his eyes and huffs out a breath, “fine.”

At the end of all the persuading, puppy eyes and excessive pouts sent to Donghyuck, he gives up, buckling the twins on the backseat while he takes the passenger seat by Mark. They stay silent for the rest of the ride after the kids have dozed off, they basically used the time spent in the car to throw random questions at Mark. Random questions including which candy is his favorite, does he like ice cream, what color of m&m’s is his favorite and questions of the like. Donghyuck has his eyes closed, drowning in the small talk his kids and Mark are invested in. Maybe just maybe their little family has one more room for one more person. Maybe just maybe if he wants to be part of it.

“Hyuck? Are you asleep?” Mark whispers, gently shaking his shoulder, “We’re here.” 

“Yeah, I’m good,” he nods, “This is it then. Thank you, Mark. A lot.” he says with all sincerity, sending Mark a small shy smile. 

“Need help carrying them up?” gesturing at the two passed out kids buckled in the backseat. They have their lips parted, breathing gently with baby snores as they succumb into dream land. 

“No, it’ fine. I can do it, nothing I can’t do.”

“Yeah? How’re you gonna do that then?” Mark smirks, unbuckling his seatbelt and already getting to open the car door and walk over to the backseat’s door. He pays Donghyuck no mind as he stares at the older unbuckling Dowon’s seatbelt and lifting her into his arms. 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes and gets out of the car as well to collect Dongwoo in his arms. Good thing he’s used to both arms being occupied ever since which is why climbing up the stairs and slotting the key to open the door to their apartment is a piece of cake for him. He lets Mark in and leads him into his room instead of the twins’, he knows once they wake up, they’re just going to look for him anyway. Donghyuck tries to offer Mark coffee but the older refuses, saying he’s stuffed. He was about to join Mark in the living room to make small talk for awhile before walking him back to his car when a faint “appa” called from the room. He quickly excuses himself, apologizing for not being able to walk him to his car. Mark leaves with a smile on his face, it’s fine, he thinks it’s enough. It’s enough to be able to spend the day with Donghyuck despite not ending the night romantically with a kiss on his forehead. He thinks he can get used to this. Having the kids around.

Donghyuck makes himself comfortable in the bed, beside the twins, draping his arm over their bodies as far as it would let him reach. “Appa’s here.”

“Appa? Mark hyung...” Dongwoo mumbles, slightly almost inaudible. His eyes were closed and his hands relaxed as he tries to make out words.

“You like him? I like him too.” he smiles, feeling the same warmth blooming in his chest again. 

“Can oppa....stay....” Dowon mumbles sleepily as well. Donghyuck can hardly understand her words but somehow he knows what she means. 

“He can stay, of course, as long as he wants to. I want him to stay too.”

The next day passes by like any other day except Mark kept sending glances over at Donghyuck each time he can, which Donghyuck has never seemed to notice before. He returns a small smile towards the older every time. Every now and then he’ll brush his hand against Donghyuck’s when they pass by each other in the halls. Somehow, he feels like a high school student again instead of almost finishing college. Next thing he knows, he was already at home throwing Mark’s jersey over his shirt, and crouching down to tie Dowon’s hair into little pigtails. He lets Dongwoo wear his favorite sneakers that make him feel like a basketball player. They meet up with the others before hopping into Jeno’s car after telling Mark he doesn’t need to pick him up anymore. Everyone immediately coos at both the twins and Donghyuck swimming in a pool which is Mark’s jersey with Lee labeled at the back. It’s funny how people might think it’s just customized because Donghyuck and Mark shared the same last name. 

They seat not too far but not too close either, just enough to see the whole court, the movements of each player and the expressions they wore on their faces. Mark immediately spots them, sending a wink at Donghyuck which made several girls upfront squeal, thinking it was meant for them. The twins stand between him and Jaemin, jumping excitedly, waving their green flags which had FIGHTING NCTU printed on it. They also scream and giggle every time Mark waves at them. Donghyuck can’t help smiling at their little reactions, how happy and excited they were, seeing their new favorite person play their new favorite sport.

Time ticks and before they know it, it was the last throw. Mark accepting the ball passed from another teammate, his eyes widen before he dodges the opponents, running towards the line to make a three point shoot. It’s a win or lose situation, he only has to get these points and they were done. The night is over and NCTUcomes home with another trophy. He gets ready to throw his shot, bending his knees before throwing the ball up in the air. Scoring the awaited three point shoot just before the buzzer erupts and signals the whole home court to lose sophistication and sanity to celebrate another win. Donghyuck sees Mark get tackled by his teammates, including Jeno, his own friends cheer for him and pour a bottle of water all over him. He smiles warmly cheering with his friends as well. Chenle goes down to congratulate Jisung, pulling Donghyuck with him, “Come on, hyung, congratulate your prince charming!” 

He only laughs in reply and tells Chenle he’ll go down with Jaemin and Renjun after. The two give him an unconvinced look, in the end they let Donghyuck go first, probably to watch their interaction from the bleachers. He takes Dowon and Dongwoo’s hands, leading them down the steep bleachers and onto the court. Once they spot Mark and Mark waves them over, they immediately let go of their father’s hand to run up to Mark and hug his leg. He crouches down to their level and ruffles their hair. 

“Hey,” Donghyuck greets once he reaches them, feeling breathless as Mark in post-game look takes his breath away, “You did amazing, you are amazing.” 

He nods in thanks, looking at the floor beneath them. He was flustered again, Donghyuck was sure he can get used to this if Mark was like this everyday. 

“I need a shower, wait for me, I swear I’ll be back,” he quickly says, “hug me later, okay? Hyung’s dirty right now.”

A little later when several players have exited the locker rooms and Donghyuck was left with the twins waiting inside the court, he starts to feel anxious. What if Mark ditched them? Surely, he would never do that, but Donghyuck was still scared of course, scared of rejection and being left. He trusts Mark, he really does, which is why he tries his best to stay calm as he holds the twins in his arms. He’s shaken when they wriggle out of his hold and run up to someone, Mark being the particular someone, bag slung over his shoulder and fresh from the shower. They hug his legs and once again, he crouches down low to pinch their cheeks. They totally forget of personal space and invade Mark’s arms to hug him close. He only laughs and hugs them in return. They were now sitting on the floor, tangled, and Donghyuck takes it as an opportunity to approach them. 

“They really like you,” he mumbles, suddenly feeling shy, not knowing how to make the twins part from Mark’s embrace. 

“I really like them too.” he admits, giving the twins a look then looking up at the younger’s awkward standing figure. 

“Are you sure about this?” he hesitates to ask, but the moment the words leave his mouth, Mark looks at him questioningly, “I mean, I might be getting it the wrong way but–“

Mark gives the twins a kiss atop their heads before detaching himself and standing up, dusting off his jeans and walking over to Donghyuck. He’s completely taken aback when Mark wraps his arms around the small of Donghyuck’s waist and pulls him closer. 

“Hyuck, I want to stay. Please let me stay.” he whispers just for the two of them to hear, “You make me happy and by extension, of course, they make me happy as well.” 

He says it with so much sincerity in his voice and in the way he looks at Donghyuck in the eyes. He feels the tears building up in his eyes again and he tries to blink them away, but blinking only triggered its downpour. Mark reaches up one hand to wipe his tears away, “Please don’t cry, I mean it all.”

“I know, I’m just happy.” he says through gasps and tears, he buries his face on Mark’s neck, wrapping his arms around the older’s shoulders tightly. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve the best and I’ll be at my best for you.” 

He pulls away slowly, his hands cupping Donghyuck’s cheeks tilting his head to the side before his own lips find purchase against the younger’s own. It was chaste, short and sweet, but it was everything. Mark’s warmth, his gentleness, his love, everything. Donghyuck loved it all.

“I love you”

“Right back at you, right from the start.”

“What?”

“I knew I’ve always loved you, I’m glad I got it across now,” he smiles sheepishly, he crouches down to the kids again, “and I love you two.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos would be great !!!!


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